Mack recaps Michigan, OSU visits

Fort Wayne (Ind.) Bishop Luers 2016 wide receiver Austin Mack holds offers from Big Ten rivals Michigan and Ohio State, and was on both campuses this weekend.

Mack had just finished a visit to Ann Arbor for Michigan's BBQ at the Big House event on Sunday. He earned his offer from the Wolverines at their camp earlier this summer, but found a different atmosphere during Sunday's visit.

"It was pretty unique. The food was phenomenal," Mack said. "We got to do this new thing when we first got there, the A-Maize-ing Race, which was pretty unique. We got to take a tour, get different clues and try to beat the other teams around the whole campus, which was pretty unique.

"It was pretty fun and the whole concept of it was to take pictures at every checkpoint and tweet them out, try to get the whole thing trending. We got to bond with our group and build a little more relationships. I think a lot of kids enjoyed being able to see the certain artifacts around the campus."

Among the other recruits Mack bonded with was Michigan's class of 2016 quarterback commit, Messiah DeWeaver out of Ohio.

"Me and Messiah DeWeaver got to meet for the first time today," Mack said. "He had contacted me a couple months prior after I got my Michigan offer. He is trying to get me big-time, and he is really cool.

"I got to talk with Coach (Brady) Hoke himself a lot more, and that was pretty sweet. I got to meet Elijah Holyfield, and his dad is that big-time boxer, so that was pretty neat."

Two days prior to Michigan's BBQ event, Mack was in Columbus for Ohio State's Friday Night Lights Camp and found that to be a unique experience as well.

"When I walked into the stadium there were fans there… at a high school camp," Mack noted. "That was pretty sweet."

Mack got to Columbus just before the camp started and left soon after it ended, but he did get to spend time chatting with several of the Ohio State coaches.

"During the camp me and Coach (Urban) Meyer talked much of the time," Mack said.

"I've met a lot of receiver coaches and coach Zach Smith is the most down-to-earth coach I know. You can talk to him about anything. If you need to get personal with him, he can be real with you. Me and him are bonding really well and I call him once a week. I was in a group with him the whole time at Friday Night Lights, so I got to work with him the whole day."

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Mack was named one of Rivals.com's top performers from Friday's camp, and felt like he got in good work.

"(Ohio State commit) Eric Glover-Williams was really good and he was talking a lot, so I had to give him some work," Mack said.

Offers from Michigan and Ohio State came in very close to one another last month and he quickly named the two Big Ten programs co-leaders. As his recruitment has progressed, however, and more schools have offered, Mack has become more open to all schools.

"Right now I am not naming any favorite," Mack said. "After this fall I will probably get a list together, but right now I am trying to keep everything even as I possibly can."

Mack did not rule out August college visits, but said his focus now shifts more fully to his Bishop Luers team and their 2014 season.